To some, William Newsome might seem a tad unusual. He is not only a world-class scientist who has made extensive contributions to the study of vision and the neurobiological underpinnings of choice but is also a church-going Christian.
Newsome, the Harman Family Provostial Professor and the Vincent V. C. Woo Director of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute, leads an institute devoted to understanding how the human brain gives rise to mental life and shapes who we are. He talked to Stanford News about growing up the son and grandson of Baptist ministers, the wonders contained in a single drop of water and how he bridges the worlds of science and religion.